1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to disk drives and, more particularly, to a connector for a disk drive. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to an electrical connector for interconnecting a disk drive, a carrier for supporting the disk drive, and a docking bay into which the disk drive is inserted via the carrier.
2. Background Art
Hard disk drives (HDD) that are removable during operation in a computer or peripheral systems environment are sometimes referred to as xe2x80x9chot-pluggable.xe2x80x9d An HDD is typically mounted in a hard disk drive carrier prior to installation in a system. An HDD carrier is a frame-like structure which attaches to the HDD to assist in its insertion or removal from the system. HDD carriers also protect the HDD when it is outside of the systems environment. HDD carriers are typically constructed out of metal and/or polymeric materials.
The system contains several HDD""s, each of which may be readily interchangeable in the system. The HDD""s are mounted in bays in a chassis located within a system enclosure. The system typically has a drive connector and activity lights for each bay. Unfortunately, the connector and lights are usually located at the rear of the enclosure and are not visible once the HDD and carrier assembly is inserted into the bay. Thus, an apparatus and method for interconnecting a hot-pluggable drive in a system and monitoring the activity lights of the system while the drive is in operation is needed.
A carrier for a hot-pluggable disk drive has a frame with a pair of side walls, a front bezel, and a rear connector assembly. The disk drive mounts to the frame within its confines. The carrier also has pipes for transmitting light to the front bezel. The light pipes extend along the side wall from the front bezel to the rear connector assembly. The carrier is installed in the disk drive docking bay of a computer system. The rear end of the docking bay has a docking connector for interconnecting with the rear connector assembly, which also interconnects with the drive. The rear connector assembly is provided with a retainer for supporting the rearward ends of the light pipes. When the carrier is seated in the docking bay, the light pipes precisely align with activity lights at the back of the docking bay. The light emitted by the activity lights is transmitted through the light pipes and displayed at the front bezel for viewing by the user.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in view of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.